There were some on Bainbridge Island who believed the Spartans had too much strength on both sides of the ball for the Vashon Pirates to be much of a threat.
They thought perhaps the team would not be tested until they came up against Seattle Prep in league play.
They were wrong.
The Pirate defense tallied five sacks and three interceptions while completely shutting down the Bainbridge run game to help lead the way to a stunning 28-7 victory over the division 3A Spartans on Friday, Sept. 11.
The win advances the Pirates to 2-0 with both victories coming against larger division schools.
Coach Clay Eastly lauded the performance of the Pirate defensive line, especially the play of Nathan Betz, Gregor Davidhieser, Hamzah Griffin and Joel Harvey, for consistently stuffing the Spartan’s run attack.
For the second consecutive week, the Pirates scored first and never fell behind. On its second offensive possession, Vashon put together a 12-play, 68-yard scoring drive.
Running back Nathan Betz (13 carries, 74 yards, one TD) carried the ball five times for 26 yards and picked up three key first downs on the drive.
In two critical situations, quarterback Quinn Holert completed a 29-yard pass to Matt Kerns (five catches, 89 yards, two TDs), and a 9-yard screen pass to Alex Sohl before connecting on a 10-yard strike to Austin Franks for the score.
Nick Fox-Edele, who went four for four on PATs, booted the extra point, and the Pirates never looked back.
With three minutes left in the half, the Spartans tried to pass on fourth and 6 from their own 48-yard line, but the defensive coverage on the play was excellent, and Spartan quarterback Blake Wagner was brought down by Harvey for no gain.
Vashon took over on downs, and Holert immediately hit Kerns for a 15-yard completion at the Spartan 35.
A quick strike to Fox-Edele at the 22 was negated on a procedure penalty, but three plays later Holert went back to Fox-Edele for a 34-yard completion to the 6. A leaping catch by Franks in the corner of the end zone on the next play gave the Pirates a 14-0 lead at the half.
The second half opened with a Bainbridge fumble on its second play from scrimmage. Vashon recovered at the Spartan 25.
Holert completed a 15-yard strike to Kerns and then came right back to a wide open Kerns
in the end zone for a 21-0 advantage.
Bainbridge then put together a sustained offensive drive, taking the ball from its own 44 to the Vashon 20.
The Pirate defense took notice. On first down York penetrated to take down the Spartan runner for a 1-yard loss.
Wagner’s second down pass was off the mark, and he was forced into an errant throw by a blitzing Sohl on third down.
The Pirates got the ball back on the Bainbridge 18 after Fox-Edele leaped high in the air to break up Wagner’s fourth down pass into the end zone.
Vashon then drove downfield, going 82 yards in nine plays for its final score of the night.
Holert, who finished the game going 12 for 24 with 210 passing yards and three TDs, connected on a 48-yard pass to Kerns, a 26-yard strike to Tyler Stouffer, and scrambled for 15 yards before handing the ball to Betz for a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Spartans managed their only score after they recovered a bad snap on the Vashon 30 and completed a 7-yard TD pass eight plays later.
— Steve Edele is the father of kicker Nick Fox-Edele.
